Adaptive side plate for automotive heat exchanger

ABSTRACT

A corner assembly arrangement for a heat exchanger is provided. The corner assembly has a manifold having a tubular metal vessel and a side plate consisting of a flat metal plate extending orthogonally to the manifold and attached to an end thereof. The side plate has an end tab that extends in a zigzag pattern from a respective end of the side plate and has a support end in contact with a wall of the manifold. The support end has, according to a plan view, a concavity configured to fit the wall of the manifold.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to Italian Patent Application No. 102021000017504 filed on Jul. 2, 2021, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of heat exchangers for automotive applications and more specifically to heat exchangers comprising manifolds formed from metal tubular vessels.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In said type of heat exchanger, it has been noted that the manufacturing process causes the side plates, which serve to reinforce the pack forming the heat exchanger, to generally have ends that are separated from the manifolds by gaps of varying sizes. This fact is undesirable from a structural point of view.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of the present invention is to provide a device to compensate for tolerances of the heat exchanger and ensure proper contact between the side plate and the manifold.

For this object, according to the present invention, a corner assembly arrangement for a heat exchanger is provided, comprising

a manifold comprising a tubular metal vessel, and

a side plate consisting of a flat metal plate that extends orthogonally to the manifold and is attached to an end thereof,

wherein the side plate comprises an end tab having a width that is less than the width of the remaining part of the side plate, wherein the end tab extends in a zigzag pattern from a respective end of the side plate and comprises a support end that is in contact with a wall of the manifold, the support end having, according to a plan view, a concavity configured to fit the wall of the manifold, wherein the end tab comprises a descending part extending from the side plate and an ascending part that is connected to the descending part by a bend and provides the support end.

With the arrangement according to the present invention, the end tab acts as an adapter for the tolerance of the pack in press-fit. Moreover, the contour on the circumference of the manifold, cooperating with the support end of the end tab, prevents the side plate from moving during the production process. Advantageously, the arrangement according to the present invention is also an improvement for bursting pressures.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are also described.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Other features and advantages of the arrangement according to the present invention will become clearer from the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention, made with reference to the accompanying drawings, provided purely for illustrative and non-limiting purposes, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of a corner portion of a heat exchanger according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged scale view of another corner portion of the heat exchanger in

FIG. 1 ;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are a perspective view and a plan view of a manifold/side plate assembly, respectively; and

FIGS. 5-7 are a perspective view, a plan view, and a cross-sectional view (taken along the line B-B of FIG. 6 ) of a side plate, respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 , a heat exchanger for automotive applications is depicted, denoted collectively as 1.

The heat exchanger 1 comprises a plurality of parallel tubes 11 extending between two opposite sides of the heat exchanger (shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , respectively), and a first manifold and second manifold 13, 15 respectively arranged at each of the two opposite sides of the heat exchanger. The tubes 11 are fluidly connected to the manifolds 13, 15 for transporting a refrigerant fluid to allow the refrigerant fluid to exchange thermal energy with a gaseous fluid, specifically air, which passes between the tubes 11 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane defined by the bundle of tubes 11. For this purpose, fins 17 are interposed between the adjacent tubes 11.

In FIGS. 3 and 4 , only one end of only one manifold is shown for convenience, but it is to be understood that the end not shown and the manifold not shown have a similar structure to that shown in the drawings.

Each manifold 13, 15 comprises a tubular metal vessel 13 a, 15 a extending along a respective longitudinal axis z, and an end closure element 13 b, also made of metal material, arranged at each end of the tubular metal vessel 13 a, 15 a (for convenience only one end of the manifolds is shown in the figures).

The heat exchanger 1 further comprises a first side plate and second side plate 19 (“panel”) each arranged at a respective further side of the heat exchanger, orthogonal to the two opposite sides of the heat exchanger at which the manifolds 13, 15 are arranged. Only one side plate 19 is shown in the figures, but it is to be understood that the one not shown has a similar structure to the one shown in the drawings.

Each side plate 19 consists of a flat metal plate that extends orthogonally to the manifolds 13, 15, and has at each of its ends an end tab 21 having a width less than the width of the remaining part of the side plate 19.

In general, the structural union between the various metal components of the exchanger described above is achieved by material coupling, such as by welding and/or brazing.

Specifically, with reference to FIGS. 3 through 7 , at each of the corners of the heat exchanger 1, each end of the manifolds 13 and 15 is joined to one of the respective plates 19 in the following way.

Each end tab 21 extends in a zigzag pattern from the respective end of the side plate 19 and comprises a support end 21 a in contact with the wall of the tubular metal vessel 13 a, 15 a. As shown in particular in FIGS. 4 and 6 , the support end 21 a has, according to a plan view, a concavity facing the respective manifold 13, 15 configured to fit the curvature of the wall of the manifold.

Specifically, the end tab 21 comprises a descending part 21′, which extends from the side plate 19, and an ascending part 21″, which is connected to the descending part 21′ by a bend 21″′ and provides the support end 21 a. For the purposes of the present description, “descending” means that the relevant part of the end tab 21 extends from the elevation of the side plate 19 to approach the bundle of tubes 11 of the heat exchanger 1, ending in the bend 21′″, while “ascending” means that the relevant part of the end tab 21 extends from the bend 21′″ so as to move away from the bundle of tubes 11. The zigzag pattern, therefore, refers to a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis z of the manifold 13, 15, that is, to the direction of the thickness of the side plate 19.

With the arrangement described above, the end tab 21 acts as an adapter for the tolerance in the distances between the side plate and the manifold. Further, the curved shape of the manifold, cooperating with the support end 21 a of the end tab 21 prevents the side plate 19 from moving during the production process. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A corner assembly arrangement for a heat exchanger, comprising a manifold comprising a tubular metal vessel, and a side plate consisting of a flat metal sheet, which extends orthogonally to the manifold and is fixed to an end thereof, wherein the side plate comprises an end tab having a width less than the width of a remaining part of the side plate, wherein the end tab extends in a zigzag pattern from a respective end of the side plate and comprises a support end in contact with a wall of the manifold, said support end having, according to a plan view, a concavity configured to fit the wall of the manifold, wherein the end tab comprises a descending part, which extends from the side plate, and an ascending part, which is connected to the descending part by a bend and provides said support end.
 2. A heat exchanger comprising a plurality of parallel tubes extending between two opposite sides of the heat exchanger, a first manifold and a second manifold respectively arranged at each of said two opposite sides of the heat exchanger, and a first side plate and a second side plate, each arranged at a respective further side of the heat exchanger, orthogonal to said two opposite sides of the heat exchanger, wherein the heat exchanger comprises, at each respective corner of the heat exchanger, the corner assembly arrangement of claim
 1. 